Brumbies want home 'fortress'

David Polkinghorne

The ACT Brumbies want their fans to show the same commitment the team has shown this season and turn Canberra Stadium back into the ''fortress'' it once was when they play their biggest rivals, the NSW Waratahs, on Saturday night.

Brumbies players want at least 20,000 fans to get behind their team when the Tahs come to town and chief executive Andrew Fagan has backed his players up.

During the Brumbies' glory days a sold-out stadium was a regular occurrence at the ground but that hasn't been the case for seven years.

The last time Canberra Stadium boasted a sell-out crowd of 27,000 was against the Waratahs in 2005, and the last time it had more than 20,000 was against the Waratahs in 2009.

Fagan thinks it's time to bring those crowds back.

Coach Jake White has built the confidence of a young and inexperienced side to the point where it sits on top of the Super Rugby Australian conference and a win against the Tahs would set them up for their first finals campaign since 2004.

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Fagan was hopeful the passion and flair the players had shown this year would lure the faithful back.

''I know the players have been throwing 20,000 around as the number that they would like to see out there … if we get the 20,000 it would be wonderful to see at Canberra Stadium again,'' Fagan said.

''On the field the guys are playing with the passion and pride that their members and supporters want to see and hopefully that's reflected in the supporter base that we're able to generate and hopefully that starts this weekend against the Waratahs with a big crowd.

''I don't think there's a game on the calendar that we've had that's as significant as this one in the last few years … you've got two teams that will both be desperate to win, it's pretty clear that this is a crunch game.

''We want to ensure that we can turn Canberra Stadium back into the fortress that it once was and all of those that have turned up to any games this year have seen that the guys have played with an enormous passion.''